Thursday, October 25, 2018

Blomquists, St. George, Illness

We had a really good time with Mara and Ricky. They went shooting and hunting with James in the morning while I chilled with the kids and made some apple pies. We all went out to lunch at McDonald's so the kids could play. Then, we rested while they were at the temple. I gave Ricky a haircut, we had dinner, and then Devin came over to play games. I didn't get to participate because Samantha was fussy and didn't go to bed easily.

Samantha's first Sunday at church was anything but smooth. She woke up 15 minutes after Sacrament meeting started and screamed. As I took her out, Lewis starting screaming because he wanted gum. While I was feeding her, I got milk all over my dress and had to send James home for a change of clothes. I was late to Primary because of it and I felt really scattered because of it. I think music went okay, though. Lewis pooped during Sunday School and as James was changing him, Lewis stuck his foot in the diaper and got it all over his sock. Samantha screamed all the way home from church, but other than that, everything was perfect. (insert sarcasm) We did have a peaceful afternoon. Mara and Ricky had to leave right after dinner to get back to Rexburg.

Samantha was cranky and hard to get to sleep both Sunday and Monday nights. It really was a bummer because I had to do a huge shopping trip for our trip and the week after (until the end of the month). I was exhausted both physically and mentally, but I made it. Little did I know that this week was just going to get harder...

Packing did go remarkably well on Tuesday. We arrived at the house in Hurricane around midnight with a few incidents of crying, but we only made two stops!

Our activities in St. George I will summarize or else this post will get really long.

Wed.: Red Hills desert garden (loved, tons of cool plants and scary Halloween decorations), Pioneer Park (would be better if we were hiking, but cool red rocks), lunch at Tonaquint Park (amazing! a whole complex of stuff), train ride at Thunder Junction Park (loved, also cheap), St. George Children's Museum (lots of fun, not crowded), carousel ride at Town Square Park, Judd's General Store (small, but nice, and delicious malts), dinner back at the house and then relaxing in the hot tub.

Thu.: Las Vegas! Natural History Museum (amazing Egypt exhibit), lunch at the Feast Buffet (totally delicious, really nice waiter), exploring the Bellagio (loved the fountains) and Caesar's Palace (cool show at the Atlantis fountain), Del Taco on the way back, really pretty drive (especially the small slice of Arizona).

Fri.: explored town square a bit (no tour of Brigham Young's home because I knew it would be too long)., took James to the Urgent Care, bought pizza for a late lunch, dropped James off at the hospital, cried a lot, ate dinner and put kids to bed, Melodie and Joseph arrived late to help out.

Sat.: Town Square for the Halloween festival, lunch, carousel ride (all of which were great), quick visit to James at the hospital, Thunder Junction Park (train ride, play time, splash park), showers at home, dinner, reading books with Grandma, movie after the kids went to bed.

Sun.: got everyone ready and was all set for 9:00 church, Lewis threw up, did laundry and church at home instead, James got home from hospital, lunch, went to the St. George temple and visitor's center, talked to family after dinner

Mon.: cleaned and did laundry, left for home

The amazing part is that we got ahead of schedule on Thursday, which actually meant we got to do some of the fun stuff twice (like the parks.) The only thing we didn't get to do, really, was go to Zion National Park, but I guess we'll save that for another trip. I loved being in St. George, despite the crappy hospital stay and Lewis getting sick. It's really a very pleasant area this time of year, not too hot or cold.

Other blessings: Samantha going to bed earlier (8 or 9) and EASILY and only waking up once. Out of nowhere, she started doing a 7-8 hour stretch for the first part of night! I have actually been pretty well-rested except for the first night when we got here really late.

Being near a big hospital with specialists! There is really good medical care here, so after the initial disappointment, I wasn't too worried about James's health.

This makes our unlucky streak of October/November continue for the 8th year of 10. Maybe our next family vacation will be less complicated? I sure hope so.

Since being home, it's back to normal except for a stomach bug running through the house. So far, it's affected Lewis, Joseph, and Kenny. I wish I could wave my magic wand and make everyone stay well forever! Thank goodness for disinfectant and washing machines.

Thursday, October 11, 2018

6 Weeks

I can't believe I made it! I should say we, because Samantha has done lots of growing while I've been healing. I am so grateful that most days are pretty good. In a typical day, she takes 4 naps that range from 1 hour to 3 hours, and she's awake for about 1 1/2 hours (except before bedtime). She wakes up usually just once during the night, but bedtime varies greatly, anywhere from 8-10 p.m. She has fussy moments but is usually happy if she's been fed and isn't tired. Of course, both of those things take up a lot of my time - the feeding and trying to get her to sleep when she needs a little help. I am really grateful for the baby swing! It's a lifesaver! Things were simpler when I had just one baby, and I usually held him until he fell asleep. Now I can only really do that for bedtime because I have so much other necessary things to do to take care of everyone else. It somehow always works out, though, even though there are days where I feel like I'll never get it all done.

We watched General Conference all weekend. Needless to say, I am really grateful that we will only have 2 hours of church starting next year. I can't count how many times I prayed for my calling (Primary chorister) to get easier. Going to church has been a struggle for a long time because of having little kids who don't sit still. I get them ready by myself since James has meetings before church. I feel like this is an answer to my prayers on many levels. I will only teach singing time once now, and I won't have to feed Samantha every week during church. When she gets older, I won't have to at all! It was always impossible to make it through church before without a feeding (or even two) with my other babies, but now it will be much easier.

James stayed after on Monday, so we didn't see him much until almost 7 p.m. We watched Studio C for FHE.

Tuesday, I went to the dentist. It had been a rough morning, so I was actually excited to go. Sad, right? Haha.

Wednesday, I had parent-teacher conferences for Joseph and Kenny. Their teachers raved about them, as usual, which is always nice to hear. I'm really glad the boys love school so far.

Today, I had my 6-week postpartum check. I dropped the kids off at Claire's beforehand. Everything went ridiculously well. Samantha woke up to eat just in time to leave. The appointment was even shorter than expected, and I got a clean bill of health except for finishing up my iron supplement. I should be done taking it by the end of the year. Now, the two youngest are sleeping and I'll have a peaceful afternoon before going to the temple. Mara and Ricky are coming to visit this weekend. So exciting!

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Bad Moments, Good Days

I have to remind myself that most days really aren't bad, at least not from start to finish. Yesterday was one of those. It started off fine and really was fine until 9 pm when Samantha got very cranky and wouldn't sleep. I tried everything, but she didn't go down until 11:30 pm. Considering that she's gone to bed around 9:30 for the past week, I wasn't happy. I even cried for the first time in about a week and a half. That's progress, though, right? Newborns make me feel like a bad mom sometimes just because of how unpredictable they are. My older kids have been on some sort of schedule for a long time now. Adding a new person in the mix is always hard.

We had practice for the Primary program on Saturday. It was really long but went well. I went shopping for a little while to get a few things that couldn't wait till this week. It was nice to get out of the house for a bit.

The program went exceptionally well on Sunday. The two-part songs sounded amazing, and the kids did their parts really well. We took up the perfect amount of time too. I'm so glad it's over because I've been stressing about it all year, literally. I got several compliments before I snuck out to go home and trade with James. It's our last week of fragmented church ever! Hurray!

James had parent-teacher conferences on Monday, so we didn't see him till almost bedtime. We had thought about meeting him somewhere, but we ended up staying home because I'd met my limit by then and Samantha was cranky.

Tuesday morning, I took the older three to the dentist. It went really well except for Lewis being a bit annoying to Samantha. She slept the whole time, and there was only one cavity among all three kids! I lost sleep over worrying about being on time, but I'm glad I chose morning. I saved probably 1.5 hours by combining all of them instead of trying to book separate afternoons.

Wednesday, Sis. Colton came to visit in the afternoon to see Samantha. She is my new VT/ministering companion. James took Joseph and Kenny to a matinee while I watched a princess movie with the younger three. Everything was fine until Samantha's bedtime, but I'm still alive.

Today I hope to rest a lot before going grocery shopping as soon as James get home from school. Maybe it's lame that it's my only "break" recently aside from going to the temple last week, but I don't care. It will do.

I'm still frustrated that my physical recovery isn't complete, but as I was praying this morning, I felt that it's more important to focus on my emotional/mental health and not stress so much about the rest of it. My physical health will follow in due time. I haven't been pushing myself too hard and definitely haven't done anything strenuous. I did have a baby last year too, though, and it's just harder to recover the 5th time. I can't just stop taking care of my other kids. In other words, the fact that I haven't recovered completely really isn't my fault, but it will  happen in due time. I'm still really hoping it does by next week when I go to my appointment!